He wants to get to know you and Avi better too.Someday we’ll all be free of this danger and can breathe easy.
I can’t wait for that day.
They chatted a while longer until both of their baked goods were cooling, and then they said goodbye.Sera took a seat at the kitchen table and closed her eyes, thankful that her soulmate was sleeping in the next room and that they were safe, together.
She hoped it stayed that way.
* * *
Monday morning, Sera got a call at seven a.m.from Jeanie, asking if she’d like to meet with the other alpha females in the employee cafeteria.She was excited to get to know them better, especially since she didn’t really have anything to do.Caesar was busy with security issues and she’d already baked cinnamon rolls, chocolate scones, and made blueberry syrup for iced coffees from berries grown in the park’s greenhouses.
She grabbed a dish and plated the scones, then hurried to the cafeteria to meet with the females.
She found them at a large table and set the scones in the center before taking her seat next to Jeanie.
“Morning, everyone,” she said.
“Oh, wow, what did you make?”Jeanie asked.
“Chocolate scones.I also brought a container of blueberry syrup if anyone wants to add it to an iced coffee.It can be used to flavor milk or even added to sparkling water.”
“I’m Maggie, I’m mated to Alistair,” a brunette said with a gracious smile.She took a bite of scone and said, “Girl, this is amazing!I’m also up for some sparkling blueberry water if anyone knows where we keep the sparkling water.”
“I’m on it,” Jeanie said.
Sera introduced herself to Lori, who was mated to alpha gorilla Atticus.
Jeanie sat back down with four bottles of cold sparkling water and four glasses with ice, and they all made flavored waters with the blueberry syrup.
“Okay,” Jeanie said, taking a sip.“We could definitely sell these.Could you imagine how popular a flavored sparkling water stall would be?Especially in the summer, right next to the burger stall?”
“That would be neat,” Lori said, taking a sip.“I love this, it’s so tasty.And the scone is magic.I’ve never made a good scone.”
“I like to make breakfast pastries,” Sera said.She told them how she, Fallon, and Sunny had made breakfast pastries and coffees for the prowl and how she’d always thought it would be fun to run a coffee shop.
“We’ll have to see what we can do,” Jeanie said.“The alphas are always looking for new ways to expand the offerings in the park.”
“I would love that,” Sera said.“I’ve been wondering what I might be able to do around the park.Well, I can’t do anything until the situation with Otto is resolved, and who knows how long that might take.”
“We’re sorry you’re having so much trouble,” Lori said.“I was stalked by my daughter’s biological father.He tried to kill both of us when she was little, and we went into hiding.He found us and Atticus killed him to save me.My daughter Novi is half-polar bear.I didn’t know shifters were real until we came to the park.”
“Wow, holy crap,” Sera said.“It must be so strange to learn the truth about shifters.”
“It is,” Maggie said.“Plus, we have to keep it a secret from our families too.”
“Did you know there were other types of shifters out there?”Jeanie asked.
“I knew about wolves, but other than that, no.I understand there are more than bears, wolves, lions, elephants, and gorillas here?”
“Yep,” Jeanie said.“We’ve got a red fox, a black panther, an owl, a hyena, and of course, Sunny the tigress.”
She smiled at the mention of her adopted daughter.“That’s really awesome.”
Sera was the only shifter alpha female, though since they hadn’t finished the ceremony, she wasn’t technically the alpha female yet.She couldn’t imagine being human and finding out that not only were shifters real, but her soulmate was the boss of them.Jaguars would never allow a human to be a mate and stay with the prowl, let alone become alpha female.
The conversation drifted from the park shifters to the food stalls, to planned events for the fall and winter, and gossip that the bird sanctuary in the park was taking in a parrot who’d been part of a traveling circus sideshow that had been disbanded.As she listened to the females talk animatedly about another colorful bird joining the sanctuary, she let herself relax for the first time in days.It felt good to sit with other females who understood what it was like to not only be part of a larger group of shifters that were different from them, but what it meant to be mated to powerful males.
As she sipped her sparkling blueberry water and listened to Maggie and Lori tease Jeanie about setting up a sparkling drink empire, Sera smiled.Things with Otto were far from over, and there were possibly dark days ahead.But this?This moment felt like the beginning of something new.
